D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 10,235 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,235 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Unum Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 38.2% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Unum Group by 2.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Unum Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on UNM shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM opened at $76.90 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.56. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $42.09 and a 1-year high of $77.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $227,565.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 165,709 shares of company stock valued at $10,956,914 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Unum Group

Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and internationally. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block segment. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products.